Mopples

I would finish your en, then work as an en whilst completing your RN via distance. Once you have completed your RN, then apply for graduate entry midwifery. In nsw at least it is a 0.8 paid position, therefore you could always be working and studying at the same time. The MUM's I have spoken with about each option prefer graduate entry as the graduates have the basic acute nursing care skills. It takes a while, but it would allow you to work at the same time & you would get paid an education allowance once working as a midwife as you have completed a post graduate degree. Also, when you start in middy, you stay at your RN grading, you don't get relegated back down.

Kasey, do you have grad coordinators that can help? Where I work we have 3 and are just a page away. It is hard. I have just started my second rotation & the new ward seems so much more hectic then the previous one. Just remember, nursing is a 24 hour job, you can hand things over. I personally don't like to, but it was pointed out to me early on by senior staff and sometimes you just have to. If you feel you are having trouble coping, speak to your NUM or ward educator and see what extra support you can get. Another thing, does your ward have a shift planner? I found them extremely useful at the start and still use them. Happy wombat: not sure about where you work, but where I am, they won't allow us to do the cannulation course during our new grad as we have enough to focus on and our allocated study days are taken up by other mandatory training.

They are all much of a muchness really. They all have major specialties, however, if trauma is your thing, rpa, st George & westmead are trauma centres. St Vincent's, rpa and pow do transplant, however rpa has a transplant ward. Pow has spinal. They all have large cardiac units. Rpa has a really well supported grad program in my opinion. There are 3 grad coordinators, regular education sessions etc.

Yep scrubs have been rolled out in all of nsw now. There are a variety of styles though, but all made from the same hot polyester.

They will probably ask 6 questions and you will be interviewed by 2 to 4 people. During my interview I was asked 1) what are my personal & professional strengths. 2) situation question. 3) medication safety/administration. 4) workplace conflict. 5) OH & S/infection control. 6) how the grad program at the hospital would assist in my professional development. You then get the opportunity to ask questions.

I have had pretty good experiences at RPA. I had two educators on my first ward as the first one went on maternity leave. They were all very supportive etc. there are 3 graduate coordinators and they are fantastic as well. I started my second rotation today, so not much feedback on the second ward. The pay for a new grad or RN1 is $27.97 base. You get 12.5% loading for afternoons, 15% for nights. Saturdays are paid at hourly x 1.5, Sundays hourly x 1.75 and public holidays at 2.5 or 1.5 plus accrue an extra annual leave day. It's the same pay for all nsw public hospitals. You get 6 weeks annual leave, possibly up to 7 depending on the Sundays that you work and you get an ado every 4 weeks.

As a new grad 3 months into my grad program, I have to agree with others, that asking questions is a good thing. We do not know everything and it is better to ask questions of things you are unsure of rather then jump in hope for the best. Look after your registration, you have worked hard for it. I have just had my 3 month appraisal and my NUM, ward educator and program coordinators all said that asking questions was one of my strong points.

I'm in week 6 of my new grad and I have had a few crap shifts, but mostly good. Each day I learn something new and make a point of looking at each day as a new learning experience. I get my jobs done etc and am happy with how I am going and have been getting really good feedback etc. I can reflect on my day and know I got things done and be happy and satisfied that everything was completed for my shift. Today, I had a few curve balls thrown at me through the shift today, but I can confidently look back and know everything got done and the nurse I handed over to was happy. The RN I handed over to was actually a pool RN that took over from me a few weeks ago and just made me feel like rubbish, but today she said I was going really well so that made me really happy. Off course I know it will always be a continual learning experience etc. However, the last few days particularly, I just this stressed tightness and my minds flutters off in conversations I have had through the day. I generally walk home after a morning shift and try to get to bed early, I do breathing exercises and really try to turn my brain off so I can get to sleep. But I just have this annoying feeling of an evening that won't go away. Does anyone have any tips on how to turn this off?

I'm not sure what state you are in, but you can do the course through Oten (online version of Tafe). The course is $793 for the full year + $50 Oten fee + approximately $100 for text books. In my first semester of nursing, I also started doing this course as a back up if I didn't get an admin job in healthcare. I paid per semester, so half of the full year fee. I ended up getting an admin job in a hospital, so didn't complete it. When you enrolled, they send you the first 3 unit work books. As you send the completed work books back and complete the assignments, they send out the next 3. This was 4 years ago now, so things may have changed slightly.

I recently started my new grad. I am in Australia and we get basically 7 days. 4 days classroom orientation & 3 days shadowing on the ward then we are off on our own. We get 4 pts on morning and 4-5 on evenings. We do team nursing, so always have staff around to help with things. Also, if others in the team are caught up on tasks etc, they help others that need assistance and vice versa.

That's just the paid part, you can also have the unpaid portion of up to 2 years.

Paid mat leave = to 14 weeks pay, it can be taken at 1/2 pay over 28 weeks. 10 sick days and the paid FACS leave (for funerals or other family emergencies etc of family members) which is 4 days in your first year, then 6 for every two years following. We can also accrue up to 1 more week of annual leave depending on how many Sundays/public holidays are worked through the year (another nsw health employee).

I'm in Australia, so things are a little different here. We have blocks of placement. When it came time for the unit that related to paeds, it was combined with rural health, maternity & community, so we could choose either of these settings to do the 2 week placement in. I chose maternity, so I haven't done a paeds placement.

Perfect post Grntea. I remember reading your post about the learning to drive thing. As a new grad on my 5th week, I think half the stress we put ourselves under is because of our own expectations of ourselves. Remember you can do this, it just takes time and we are all learning.

Try not to stress to much. I felt the same. In my final 2 semesters of uni, I had 4 weeks of community placement (therefore no patient load, then in my final 12 weeks of uni I had 4 weeks of icu, 2 weeks in maternity & 2 weeks in a elective surgical ward where half the surgeons were on leave so it was extremely quiet and at times, there were more staff then patients! In my final year, I never got the opportunity to take my own full patient load and I was very concerned about how I would go. I started my new grad 3 weeks ago and it has worked out. I had 3 supernumerary days (buddies with someone) then I was on my own. I start my shift after handover with sitting down and making a plan for the shift and I go from there. I ask a lot of questions. We do team nursing where I work and the more experienced staff help out with things if I'm lagging and I help out as well if I have caught up. I make sure I have a little reflection on each shift and pick at things I could do better. It is all a big learning experience. Chin up, it will work out. Start by making a plan of your shift and going through it with your preceptor, ask for help and remember, the other nurses were in the same position once.

Thanks for the words of encouragement. I have started my new grad in Australia this week. We have had 3 days of corporate orientation/bls assessment. Tomorrow we start 2 days of supernumerary on ward orientation. Next week we have another face to face orientation day, then supernumerary on ward, then as of Wednesday next week we are on our own on ward with full patient load (4 on mornings/5 on evenings). We do have a lot of support to call on though as well as regular study afternoons/days.

Has it changed? When I was there a few years ago, we did 3 weeks placement in 1st year, 4 weeks in 2nd year and 12 in 3rd year I think. I left a few weeks before I was due to do the 2 year placement. I knew uni SA didn't have placement until 2nd year. I do agree that the online tests do nothing for your own thinking hence why I think CSU is better in that they have a lot more sit down exams. They also have specified exam centres (you nominate your closest one to do your exams) and they organise everything. If you are distance at CDU, you have to organise your own and hope it all works out!

I have studied at both, started at CDU then changed to Csu. Each Uni has it's good and bad points, but I would take Csu any day. They are much more organised in terms of residential schools and also pracs. They release calendars of when each things are at the end of sept for the next year. Csu is more demanding in terms of course work, but personally, I think that's better. Csu also has more prac for students.

It is. I had iv morphine at Christmas when I had cholecystitis. I also had sc morphine post op after having my gallbladder out when the pain was breaking through the endone.

Yep, one of the BP students asked the NUM if there were positions and she said no, they were not taking on anymore full time staff & for people to be sponsored, they had to be full time. They were also trying to looking for other advertised sponsored positions, but were having lots of trouble finding them.

As Ceridwyn has said, be aware that people are finding it harder to find jobs, especially sponsored positions. On my final uni placement last week, there were about 6 BP students. From what I gathered after talking with one of them, they only had a month left and so far were having no luck in finding a job. This is a reality & the NUM of the ward said that less sponsored positions were being offered.

Wonderful advice and definitely things I can take into practice. I finish my last placement tomorrow and therefore uni as all my final assignments have been submitted. I will be starting a grad program in two months.

I have just paid $157 registration fee for 1 year plus $160 application fee in Australia. We have national registration. It is my first year so I have to pay the application fee as well.

I have an iPad mini, but it was picked as I have small stumpy hands and it fits better!